Newcastle DE.

 Last Wednesday we went to Newcastle Delaware. It was settled by the Dutch about 1651. There have been English & Swedish flags too! William Penn came ashore in 1682 & claimed it also.  

In 1776 Newcastle was part of Pennsylvania They not only declared their independence from England, but also from Pennsylvania.

These were the very old places that boats would come to anchor.

 

Some of the nice buildings.

Since this picture came up first, have any of you read this book or was their a Disney Movie? I did one or the other but I don't remember which? It's not from the 1700's!

This little house is the Dutch House. It was built in The 1680's & is believed to be the oldest house in Newcastle. The lady gave us a very interesting tour. However, it has been 4 days & we have seen a lot since then & I have forgotten most of what she said!!

Notice the Dutch shoes which were worn here in early times.

Some more buildings built in 1700's. They have a great Historical Society that takes really good care of everything.

Our next tour was of the Amstel House. It was built in the 1730's by Dr Finney. It had a lot of owners. Sorry I can't remember much. The photos on the walls were of the real people. One of the owners fell on hard times & sold the estate furnishings. Another owner bought a lot back, but a year after she died her sister had a big estate sale. The Historical Society bought some of the pieces.

At lunch we were going to eat at Jessop's Tavern. Unfortunately I didn't have my maps app opened wide enough & we stopped short. We thought the restaurant had been bought out. It was called Fleur de Lis. It was cute & decorated in Mardi Gras colors. I even ordered blackened chicken & rice. Steve had a hamburger. I took pictures. Sorry it was dark

When we were done we found out Jessop's Tavern was still down the street. It was truly an original, having been an Inn & Tavern in 1674.

 So we had to eat in there & they had Dutch Chocolate ice cream!

Thursday my original plan was to go up to Long Island area & see Sleepy Hollow & West Point Foundry Preserve. Also the Old Trenton monument & barracks. However, our trailer was still leaking fresh water. Instead, we stayed at the campground so Steve could try again to stop the leak. We went to Walmart & then relaxed a bit.

I think neither of us wanted to get into New Jersey/New York a day early.

We took a walk to Lum's Pond which is in our campground. It is huge but this is just a small section.

Friday we left with much trepidation about getting from the Delaware area to south western Rhode Island/south eastern Connecticut. Unfortunately all roads lead through New Jersey/New York.

We had to pay about $85. in tolls!! All 3 freeways were toll roads so they got you! The 4 1/2 hour trip was 7 hours driving, not counting stops! It was miserable 😪 stop & go & on top of everything else it started raining while we were still in New York. So this is the worst day of our trip & hopefully it won't be that bad ever again!

So you are now caught up & I will post soon on Stonington, Ct.